Harmonies let Banded Starling really fly at The Bebop

By Ed Symkus, Correspondent

Thursday

Aug 2, 2018 at 11:15 AM

Close to a decade before they formed the acoustic guitar- and vocal harmony-driven duet Banded Starling, Priscilla Bel and Pete Wason were members of a church band in their home state of New Hampshire. She was a singer and he was a drummer. They were around the same age, had mutual friends, would bump into each other at parties, and eventually became good friends. Bel, who had been writing poetry since she was 11, and songs since 15, started piano lessons at age 4, but “quit very dramatically when I was 9,” and eventually moved over to guitar because she thought her older brother played it so beautifully. Wason had been playing drums and percussion since fourth grade, but got hooked on guitar when a friend – another drummer-turned-guitarist – showed him a few chords.

But that’s not how Banded Starling – who will be doing a show at The Bebop in Boston on Aug. 10, featuring original songs from their EP “Sink In,” along with some new selections from their upcoming EP – got together.

As Bel tells it, “After going to college in Boston, I moved back to New Hampshire, which was around the time that Pete got married. Then I moved to Poland for a year, but Pete and I remained friends. When I came back to New Hampshire I realized I couldn’t say no to music anymore. I put a band together with a singer-songwriter friend, and Pete was the drummer. But I eventually left that band, and when I presented my music to Pete later on he agreed to start the duo.”

But the songs and sounds featured on “Sink In,” from the acoustic pop of “Empty Places” to the percussive strumming – and clapping – on “Ask the Rain,” isn’t what you’d expect upon learning what they were hearing in their formative years.

“I listened to contemporary Christian music, some Kenny G, a lot of bossa nova and merengue, and all sorts of typical ’80s music on Magic 106.7,” said Bel.

“My parents listened solely to classical music. I didn’t have any pop, nothing even remotely contemporary when I was growing up,” said Wason.

The sound they forged in the duo clicked right away. Bel plays acoustic guitar and glockenspiel, and does lead vocals. Wason is on acoustic guitar and bass drum, and handles backup vocals.

Hold on: Glockenspiel?

Bel laughed at the question, and said, “When we were recording our first EP I really wanted to add some more instrumentation. Pete dug out a keyboard from his basement and I plucked out a few things. Then I wanted a mini keyboard to bring around with us so we could add the sound to our live performances, but I couldn’t find one in my price range. So, I bought this tiny, 27-key, Korean-made children’s glockenspiel and started playing it during performances. Pete was a fan of it, so I continued doing that with other songs.”

“I haven’t really thought about that,” admitted Bel. “I just knew I was having fun and wanted to keep doing this.”

“I’ve dabbled in singing but I’m still in the learning process of being a singer,” said Wason. “But back when I was taking drum lessons, I studied a lot of theory, and there was some ear training. So, I know when it sounds good versus when it doesn’t sound good, and I kind of use that as the litmus test for how we sound together.”

That’s made more clear via with an explanation of how they create new songs.

“I write the melody and the lyrics and for the most part I come up with the chords and chord structure,” said Bel. “I’ll play a new song for Pete, something that’s usually semi-completed, we’ll record it on the spot, and he’ll take it home and study it. Then he’ll say, ‘I really like that chord structure’ or ‘I like how this would sound; let’s try this.’ There’s also some experimentation at every rehearsal to help move the song to the next level.”

Wason added, “When I first hear a song, it’s a melody and words and very barebones guitar. There are no harmonies yet, and I kind of go my own road a little bit with harmonies.”

Then it was Bel’s turn: “Most of the time he finds these really cool harmonies.”

Beyond the songs from their EP being performed at the Bebop show, Bel and Wason are thinking about “a couple of new songs we’ve been working on that might possibly show up,” hinted Bel. There are also thoughts of including a cover or two.

“If we’re doing a really long show, it would be about 90 percent originals and then we’d throw in some covers,” said Wason.

“We have a cover of Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’,” said Bel, “but it’s done very much in Banded Starling style.”

And plans for the next EP are rolling right along.

“We’re in process,” said Bel. “We have almost three quarters of it finished. We’re hoping it will all be done by the end of August, and we’re looking for a release, with CDs available, in November.”